A problem within building spaces where business is conducted by a large number of people working in an open, partially separated space, e.g., an open floor segmented into cubicles, or where many items are stored in an open space, on rows of shelving, e.g., in a supermarket, is locating within the space the workspace of a particular person or group of persons, or the shelf location of particular goods or type of goods. Signage is often employed to assist persons making deliveries to, or pickups at particular locations in the open space. However, the previously known signs have several drawbacks. Generally a flat sign is hung from ceiling structure with information printed on the sign about the persons or goods located near the sign. The flat sign is readable only from a viewing angle that is generally normal to the sign's face, while readability suffers greatly when the viewer is located towards the sign's edge, and the flat sign is not readable at all from the side. The flat sign often blocks the view of other signs or of other information or visual cues located throughout the open space. The ceiling mount may require retrofitting of the ceiling and requires a high ladder for installation.
This invention involves the provision of a signage structure, preferably curved or any other form that provides for a wide variety of viewing angles, that can be mounted inside a building space, or in certain outside areas if desired, with mounting being effected on the outside of something like a post or a support pillar, or on the flat wall or on the outside or within the inside of, outside and inside corner areas where walls or wall-like structures join.
The proposed signage structure includes a sign- or placard-mounting frame or placard support which can either be a single integrated unit, or various-style angle-occupying frame pieces that can be positioned adjacent one another to define an elongate curved slip-in/slip-out track for freely receiving and releasing at will different selected elongate signs, preferably flexible, or alternatively pre-formed in a fixed curved shape, matching that of the placard support.
Preferably the sign support frame structure includes an elongate, curved track with upper and lower channel-like rungs or grooves that are elongated and that extend along and throughout a predetermined angle, preferably a substantially full circle, and which include one or two open ends into which and from which a sign or placard can be inserted and/or withdrawn at will.
An aspect of the invention is that, with a curved presentation surface provided, signage held within the structure can readily be viewed from a very wide range of selected viewing angles, which viewing angles can conveniently offer a line of view from just about any vantage point occupyable within or adjacent the space where the signage structure is employed. Also, the structure of this invention affords the opportunity for a user to select predetermined, preferable lines of points of view which may relate especially to the locations where people in the relevant space might be standing to look for sign information, with the curvilinearity in the tracks provided for flexible signs affording the opportunity for a user to center (so-to-speak) the main message of the sign in the fashion which is directly aimed in what might be thought of as a normal sense relative to the central axis of each such selected point of view. The curvature of the sign also allows the same amount of information to be printed in the same size font as a flat sign, with a smaller horizontal dimension, so the curved sign blocks the view of less of the other information as compared to the flat sign.
The sign support structure can readily be made to suit any mounting application, and preferably will be formed of any suitable lightweight metal or plastic or other easily shaped, formed and configured materials.